is a city and a
municipal board in
Sultanpur district is in the
Uttar Pradesh. It is located in the
center of and is the administrative headquarters of
Sultanpur District. It is an ancient
town situated on the right bank of
Gomati River, to the south east of
Lucknow and midway between
India. It came under the
Muslim reign in the 12th century. The
town was completely destroyed during the military operations in the
Revolt of 1857. Major points of
attractions include the Victoria Manzil and Christ Church. The Chimanlal
Park is also worth a visit. Regular trains connect the city with
Kolkata. Kamla Nehru Institute of
Technology, a government
engineering college, is located in the city.
divided, during his life-time, his vast kingdom among his brothers and
sons. His son, Kush succeeded to the south Kosala with its capital at
Ayodhya. The old city of Sultanpur which lay on the right bank of the
Gomti is said to have been called Kusapura or Kusabhavanpur, having been
named after Kusa, who is locally believed to have founded it.
Kusa appears to have extended the Aryan ideals and
institutions to the Vindhya region. The story of his marriage with a Nag
princess testifies that he propagated Vedic culture among aborigines.
Afterwards the central power of Kosala became week and Dirghayajna, the
ruler of Ayodhya, was subdued by Bhima, one of five Pandavas in the
Mahabharata War (Mahabharata, Sabhaparva).
[Lord Kusha at
Sitakund Ghat ]
few generations later, in the period of king Para, Ayodhya was occupied
by the king Divakara of Sravasti branch, founded by Rama's second son,
Lava. The District then began to be ruled over by the Kosala kings from
their capital at Sravasti. The tract of river Gomti around the village
Dhopap (pargana Chanda, tehsil Kadipur) is described as Dhutpap in Visnu
The Sultanpur district Gazeteer published in 1903 A.D. throws some light
on the history and origin of the district. It is seen that the chief
land owning families of the past were the Rajputs of the various clans,
who possessed 76.16 percent of the total land area. Among them the
Rajkumars along-held over one-fourth of the district, while their
kinsmen, the Bachgotis and Rajwars owned 11.4 and 3.4 percent,
Another member of the Rajwars family was the Raja of Hasanpur. Allied to
him were the families of Maniarpur and Gangeo and between them they
owned a large portion of the central area. Next to Bachgotis and their
kinsmen come the Bandhalgotis, who owned almost the whole of Amethi
pargana. Their head was the Raja of Amethi, while the taluqdar Shahgarh
belonged to the same clan.
The Rajputs with large properties in the district were the Bhale Sultans
who owned 4.72 percent, the Kanhapurias with 4.7 percent, and the
Bais with 2.8 percent. Of the Bhale Sultans half were Hindus
and half Muslims. They were dwelling in the north west corner of the
district in the parganas of Isauli, Musafirkhana and Jagdishpur.
The Kanhpurias were chiefly
confined to pargana Gaura Jamo, almost the whole of which belonged to
were scattered about in small groups.Another important branch of the
land owning clans was the house of Raj Sah.
Raj Sah had
three sons, Ishri Singh, Chakrasen Singh and Rup Chand. From Ishari
Singh, after nine generations came Bijai Chand, who had three sons.
Harkaran Deo. Jit Rai, and Jionarain.
was the ancestor of Nanemau taluqdar; the descendants of Jit Rai were
the owners of Meopur Dahla, Meopur Dhaurua, and Bhadaiyan; and from
Jionarain descended the Raja of Dera. The fourth descendant of Jionarain
led the first of the six colonies of Rajkumars across the
and planted himself at Dera on the banks of the river. This house became
one of the main branches of the Bachgotis of Sultanpur.
beginning of the nineteenth century Babu Madho Singh, eleventh in
descent from Jionarain was the rular of the estate which consisted of
101 villages. Babu Madho Singh who is remembered as the successful
leader and who managed his property well died in 1823. He was succeeded
by his widow, Thakurain Dariao Kunwar, a most remarkable woman, who
through toil and turmoil not only bravely held her own, but added to her
estates than her husband had done in his life time. The direct line of
succession had ended with the death of Thakurain's husband, Babu Madho
singh. The Next male collateral heir was Babu Rustam Sah, whom Thakurain
disliked. Babu Rustam Sah was in the service of Maharaja Man Singh, the
nazim of the day and with his help succeeded in capturing Thakurain and
made her write a deed in his favour. That formidable woman, whose pride
was hurt grieved for a few months and died. Rustam Sah was given the
possession of the property by the nazim. Rustam Sah came to know later
that the nazim had ulterior motives in helping him. A fight would have
followed and Rustam would have killed nazim, but for a pandit who
advised him that the time was not propitious.
Sah sought asylum across the British border and was made the taluqdar of
Dera, which consisted of 336 villages. Rustam Sah rendered excellent
service during the Mutiny. He died in 1877 and was succeeded by his
nephew, Raja Rudra Pratap Singh.Bariar Singh.
youngest brother of Rustam Sah, received an estate of 20 villages and
three pattis in the parganas of Baraunsa and Aldemau in return for
services rendered during the Mutiny. This property was known as Damodra
local rajas were under the control of Dilli Hukumat and Nawabs of Avadh.
As of 2001 India census, 
Sultanpur had a population of 100,085. Males constitute 53% of the
population and females 47%. Sultanpur has an average literacy rate of
92.5,higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 97%,
and female literacy is 88%. In Sultanpur, 13% of the population is under
7 years of age.
RIZWAN A. KHAN